A Guardian analysis finds the vast majority of people who entered deportation proceedings for the first time from January to August last year had no criminal convictions

A Guardian analysis of government records has found that the vast majority – 77% – of people who entered deportation proceedings for the first time in 2025 had no criminal conviction, exposing a stark gap between the Trump administration’s rhetoric and reality.

Within days of Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) trotted out a phrase that his surrogates would come to use over and over again: “the worst of the worst.”

Fewer than half of the people in the data (40%) had any criminal charge against them, and only 23% had a conviction.

Of those who did have a criminal conviction, nearly half were for non-violent traffic and immigration offenses.

Traffic offenses alone made up nearly 30% of the convictions, the largest category by far.

Some 9% of criminal convictions were for assault, while only 1% were for sexual assault and just 0.5% were for homicide.